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Just wondering… Actually, not entirely sure what I am wondering…

But something close to…ARE WE GIVING OUR ALL? Walk with me to a place when we were young, a place where we were all grouped by “kids” and grouped by “adults”. Ha Ha-that was something. Our moms sent us out of doors with strict instructions to NOT come home until dinner. We were kids, we followed directions without asking questions. But we were together, we were the “kids”. It didn’t matter if you were Irish, Italian, Catholic, Black, White, Protestant. Not to forget the townies, hicks, bumpkins, motor heads, preppies … and by the way, back when I was a kid those were the minorities of the day. There were names for ALL of us. I could identify with SEVERAL of the groups that were looked down on. What the heck did I care? I identified with most all of them in some way. We made forts in the woods, we played SPUD (kickball), we stayed out until the the bats came diving, played truth or dare, we picked fights, we ran home from the bus stop because a bully was chasing us. BUT, we woke up each day and we didn’t check social media, we weren’t politically correct. I mean, we just WERE. We were kids of immigrants, we were all poor, we all had to work, barely any of us went to college and if we did, we went to the one down the street. And everyday, we gave our all… At play, at school, at life because really, there was nothing that was promised. We went to our little schools big–big attitudes, big shoulder pads, big hair. And eventually it was big brains, and not-so-big apartments and maybe big or small cities but they were all ours. Our people, our family, our jobs, our cities. We contributed and created. We have voted for 7 presidents, bought homes, started families. We gave our all. This letter is to my generation and any who read this and agree, we need to give our all for our families, for our friends close and remote, for our beautiful country… Our home. Politics and divisiveness have set us against each other. Please remember that we are all Americans, we all fear each other and revere each other. God bless our country, our home, our us. God bless us every last one.

My daughter’s 8th Grade Formal is coming up this weekend. It is a fancy and fun dance, but more than that, it is a celebration of the end of middle school and the ushering in of high school. After getting all dressed up, we normally go up to our club and take pictures of all the teens before they go off to the dance. This year there is an event going on at the clubhouse, so my daughter and I went out to find another spot for pictures. We were thinking about going to a pretty field near our house, but as we passed it, we realized that amid all of the spring rain and renewal it had become overgrown and was no longer accessible to us. Looking into that tangled mass of new, green leaves and weeds I was reminded that a path only remains one by being exercised, tended to and cared for. Our lives so closely mimic that of the path in the woods. There are moments of clarity in our minds where we set out to forge new paths, or reconnect with old paths, or struggle to stay on the same path! It could be a New Year’s Resolution, a commitment for Lent, an academic or athletic goal as you enter high school or trying to stay the path you are on when obstacles try to crowd the way. Some of our mental paths take form and settle into our daily walk of life. Some get overgrown with weeds and obstacles and end up being unusable. A single footstep doesn’t make a path and a single step in your mind’s path doesn’t make a life. Is there a pathway in your mind or heart that needs tending? Go there once and again and a clear walkway will begin to form. There is incredible beauty in beginning! The first step, the first breath, the anticipation of what’s to come… Eventually what once seemed impossible becomes possible and real. Is there a pathway in your mind that is already there? A well-worn comfortable place that you go back to again and again, like sinking into your favorite chair at the end of a busy day? Either way, repeating over and over our intentions with our thoughts and our actions will lead us down the path we are setting, as long as we tend to it, care for it and exercise it regularly. Grab your boots and hat and take a walk, one step at a time down that path!